Apple Is Removing Iranian Apps From Its Store, Once Again

Once again Apple has removed some of the Iranian apps from its store. Plus the company has been rejecting new updates from Iranian apps in the past few months due to U.S. sanctions against Iran.

Only iPhone Has A One Billion Dollar Market in Iran

Iran is a country of 80 million people and most of them are tech-savvy. There are 48 million smartphones and 47 million social media users in the country. iPhone’s billion dollar market, the 1.2 Million illegally imported iPhones per year and an estimated 7 million iPhones in the country (14.5% of Iran’s smartphone market) all indicate a big market for Apple products in Iran. In a nutshell, Iranian market could have some serious effects on Apple’s stocks indirectly. Furthermore, due to the absence of international payment methods and credit cards such MasterCard and Visa, Iranians have to use Apple’s gift cards to be able to purchase an app or use Apple’s other services. Even there was a time not so long ago, that Iranians couldn’t update their iOS version and the apps which they paid for without using VPN and faking their IP address.

“We are unable to include your app, [App’s name] on the App Store. Under the U.S. sanctions regulations, the App Store cannot host, distribute, or do business with apps or developers connected to certain U.S. embargoed countries.

“This area of law is complex and constantly changing. If the existing restrictions shift, we encourage you to resubmit your app for inclusion on the App Store.”

“Unfortunately, there is no App Store available for the territory of Iran. Additionally, apps facilitating transactions for businesses or entities based in Iran may not comply with the Iranian Transactions Sanctions Regulations (31CFR Part 560) when hosted on the App Store. For these reasons, we are unable to accept your application at this time.

“We encourage you to resubmit your application once international trade laws are revised to allow this functionality.“

Is Apple banning all the Iranian apps?

As you can see in the January response, the major point from Apple was “apps facilitating transactions for businesses or entities based in Iran,” but Apple’s standpoint has changed to “App Store cannot host, distribute, or do business with apps or developers connected to certain U.S. embargoed countries” which means this time it’s not “facilitating transactions” but rather the whole range of Iranian apps. This change of strategy might be coming from Trump’s administration which is trying to put more pressure on Iran.

How come Google is not Removing Iranian apps?

Regarding payment and transactions, Iran banking system specially SHARAPARK and SHETAB, are completely isolated from the rest of the world. These systems are domestically designed by Iranians to process the money transaction inside the country. Therefore, It can’t possibly have any effects on U.S. sanctions against Iran. We are talking about ordinary people here, people who want to get a taxi using Snapp or buy a product online from Digikala or Bamilo. Now, by removing Iranians apps from App Store, 7 million people like you can’t use their own domestic services. How could it be fair to withdraw a service from people who paid for it? Apple products are platforms which many businesses are built upon. U.S. is providing a high tech technology such as GPS to the whole world and it doesn’t allow Apple to accept Iranian apps which consumer and ordinary people would use. How come Google Play is not rejecting Iranian apps?

What are the damages?

As dozens of Iranian founders have pointed, some of the damages that Apple has caused so far to these startups are:

Cost of development

Cost of account/sign up

Reputation

Damage to Image of brand

Cost of marketing and campaigns

Possibility of layoffs and unemployments

Keep in mind that an average iPhone user’s basket size is usually larger than an Android user in many cases.

It’s not known yet if Apple is just preventing troubles ahead with U.S. government or It’s just doing it on its own. The question which remains is that how come Iranian apps are not removed by Google?

It seems Iranian start-ups are the edge of damage anyway. Not only the bureaucracy in the country damage us, any one around the world have any annoyance from something, sacrifice us. I think it is a right time for being more active and gain better media coverage and defending our digital rights.

Its cumbersome but there is a method:
users would have to provide their Unique Device ID (UDID) {easily found when phone plugged into itunes} and then these companies would set them up on diawi and send them a link. Its definitely a pain in the butt , but would be a work around. Good opportunity for seebcheh to find a easier way perhaps?.Were iranian, im sure we will find a way;)

Latest Featured Startup

Although every day more and more shopping malls are popping up across Iran, there's one fashion e-commerce in the country which is offering products that are not easily found in retail shops. Modiseh is an online fashion e-commerce known for its exotic discounts and stylish fashion products in Iran.

Startup Story

Puzzly is an Iranian DIY(do it yourself) mobile app builder which lets users build their own customized app within a few minutes.

ABOUT US

TechRasa's task is to expose the activities of Iran's startup ecosystem with the vision of empowering and inspiring Iranian entrepreneurs. TechRasa also aims to give startups the international exposure they need and to help promote Iranian entrepreneurs to become global stakeholders.
In addition to these activities, TechRasa also provides consultancy services and market research reports to companies that want to enter Iran.